A population-based epidemiological study of human T-cell leukemia virus type I infection in Kin-Hu, Kinmen

✍ Scribed by Yi-Ming A. Chen; Hui-Ching Lin; Pesus Chou

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 558 KB
• Volume: 65
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19960301)65:5<569::aid-ijc3>3.0.co;2-0

✦ Synopsis

Kinmen is a group of small islands located between Taiwan and Fu-Kien Province of mainland China. The general population in Kinmen are descendants of immigrants from mainland China who began arriving around 3 I7 A.D. Since it has been reported that 0.48% of adults in Taiwan have HTLV-I infection, the decision was made to conduct a community-based epidemiological study in Kinmen to understand the origin and dissemination of HTLV-I in north-east Asia. Over 68% of residents of Kin-Hu township in Kinmen over 30 years of age participated in this study. Eight of 1,425 males and 14 of 1,595 females had HTLV-I infection. Antibody reactivities were further tested by Western blot assays with HTLV-I or HTLV-II type-specific recombinant envelope glycoproteins, and it was determined that all of those infected had HTLV-I and none had HTLV-II. Logistic regression was used for multivariate analysis. The final model indicated that the significant factors associated with HTLV-I infection in Kinmen were age and coastal residency. Age was positively correlated with HTLV-I infection. The eastern coastal area had a rate of HTLV-I infection 3. I times higher than other areas in Kin-Hu. Further genetic analysis in Kinmen is needed to elucidate a relationship with other HTLV-I isolates in the world.